Rheological Properties of a Novel High Viscosity Polysaccharide, A49-Pol, Produced by Bacillus polymyxa

An exopolysaccharide, designated as A49-Pol, was produced from Bacillus polymyxa KCTC 8648P in nitrogen sufficient conditions. The viscosity of the culture broth increased up to $2\times10^4$cP in 38 hours of culture and then decreased to $1.5\times10^4$CP at 48 hours. The $1.0\%$ (w/v) solution of purified A49-Pol represented pseudoplasticity with a viscosity of $2.7\times10^4$cP which was two times higher than xanthan at the same concentration. The viscosity of the A49-Pol solution was also greatly affected by its concentration in comparison with the xanthan solution. The viscosity of $1.0\%$ A49-Pol solution was 930-fold higher than its $0.2\%$ solution, whereas the corresponding viscosities of xanthan solution experienced only l7-fold difference. The viscosity was observed to be maximum at pH 7.0 in both A49-Pol and xanthan solutions, and gradually decreased as the pHs of the polysaccharide solutions went to acidic or alkaline regions. The viscosity of A49-Pol solution was very sensitive to temperature compared to xanthan and decreased with increasing temperature. The viscosity of $0.6\%$ solution of A49-Pol was 8,100 cP at $10^{\circ}C$ and 55 cP at $50^{\circ}C$. The viscosity was also affected by the presence of surfactants such as Span 20 and Triton X-l00 ; with $0.5\%$ Triton X-l00 (v/v), the viscosity of A49-Pol solution increased by $50\%$.